The Man in the Curtains
by WiseGirl1609
Summary: Jack and Crutchie play a Halloween prank on Davey and Les.


For Newsies Pape Selling Competition

Task 3

Prompt: (object) Lamp

Disclaimer: …none of the characters are mine…

Word count: 1779

Jack smirked. Being the prankster he was, this holiday was his favorite. No, not Christmas like most normal people. He didn't have any money and neither did any of the other Newsies, so Christmas was actually dreaded. Not Easter. Not Hanukkah. Not Valentine's Day. Not Thanksgiving. Not the Fourth of July. Not New Years. Halloween. It was Halloween.

Crutchie looked over at Jack, knowing what he was thinking about. It was October 15th and already Jack was planning their annual prank.

"Oh, no. Jack, no." Despite his complaints, a smile was growing on his face.

"Oh, yes, Crutchie. We're doing dis. And this year will be the best ever because they won't even expect it." Crutchie was kind of terrified of Jack when he started thinking. If Jack tried, he could easily outsmart Davey, but he never felt like it.

"Who… who is wese doing this year?" An evil smile began to grow on Jack's young, but not quite innocent, face.

"Davey and Les." Crutchie had to agree, that was pretty genius. All the other Newsies had been pranked and would be expecting another one. Davey and Les? They were clueless.

"Okay. I'm with ya."

"Yes! Hey, Ise thinking about dis…" Jack told his plan to Crutchie and he had to admit it was genius. Jack was way too good at some things. Jack abruptly cut himself off as Davey and Les walked by. Les was talking loudly and passionately about something with his eyes wide open and a frustrated expression on his face. He was also very loud. Did I mention that before?

Davey was frantically trying to shush Les, looking ashamedly at Jack and Crutchie, who followed their progress by turning their heads. Looking back, Crutchie realized that that looked creepy, but it was Halloween time. Creepy was normal, right? As soon as the brothers were out of earshot, Jack whipped his head back around to face Crutchie.

"Dis is great! None of the Newsies have told them because if dey had, Davey would have steered clear o' us!"

"So… do da Newsies know we are targeting them?" Crutchie asked. He really had no idea how far ahead Jack had planned.

"Don't underestimate them! No, I didn' tell dem, but they do have brains in dose thick skulls."

"Uh, Jack… your skull is da thickest of them all." Jack cheerfully waved the insult away.

"Yeah, I know. Now, Crutchie, dis is what I need ya to do." Jack used a lot of expressive hand gestures to explain the prank even better. It was a classic, but not one that had ever used before. They had used the fake blood prank, the monster under the bed prank, the scratching at the window prank, the skeleton hands prank, and virtually any other one out there. But not this one.

Jack pulled a couple other Newsies into this prank. It wasn't uncommon to find him whispering to Race or Romeo, Elmer or Skittery. Jack even convinced Crutchie to get Davey and Les' parents in on it. The prank was going to take place on Halloween at their house during supper. Jack and Crutchie, along with a couple other Newsies, would be invited.

Katherine was sent on errands and made to distract the two brothers as the Newsies had planning meetings. The prank in itself was really very simple. They just needed the timing to be perfect, and everyone had to be in the right spot in the right time. It was mostly just practicing coordination. Some of it was… very frustrating.

"No! Race, you is supposed to be at that end of the table, by the lamp! Finch, you was supposed to sit by Romeo!" Jack groaned. They were doing a run through of the dinner- without the two most important parts of the joke, obviously.

It was October 25, and almost everything was memorized to perfection. And then, Crutchie got confronted. By Davey. It was terrifying. Pee your pants nerve wracking. He looked hurt and depressed. Crutchie looked around, but there was no one to save him. He grimaced. By the time Davey was in a comfortable distance for conversation, Crutchie was ashen. Davey cut to the chase.

"Why are you avoiding me? I thought we were friends." The hurt was evident in his voice. Crutchie panicked.

"I… uhhh… am sick and… didn't want... to get you sick," Crutchie flinched at his own excuse. Davey didn't buy it.

"Then why are you around the rest of the Newsies?"

"It's something they've all had before so they'se immune?" He ended with a question, making his voice go softer towards the end.

"And, what is this disease?" Davey replied smartly. Crutchie was mortified. He thought he was going to die. He considered his options, run (as best as he could with a crutch) or come up with a sickness that Davey hadn't heard of, which was chancy because Davey was educated. Then, his angel appeared. Jack slung his arm around Crutchie's shoulder.

"Hey now, boys. Whatcha doing?"

"Crutchie was telling me he can't be around me because he has a disease that will get me sick but won't get the others sick," Davey said triumphantly, knowing he won. Jack just laughed.

"It's just da measles. Wese all had 'em." Davey looked suspiciously at Crutchie. Crutchie looked down and held his breath for a couple seconds to get a red tinge in his cheeks.

"I think I should go lay down," he murmured in a croaky voice. Jack guided him to the Lodging House. As soon as they were safely inside the bunking room, Crutchie blew out a sigh of relief and let out a hysterical laugh. It was such a close encounter that he was as limp as a rag when he realized he got away.

"Thank you, Jack. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Jack grinned.

"Anytime. Now, remember your lines?"

October 31. The day all the Newsies had been simultaneously excited for and freaking out about. Everyone had grim expressions as they ran over their parts in their head. The Newsies who weren't part of the prank were distracting Davey and Les for the morning and afternoon while Jack and Crutchie put together last minute preparations.

Davey arrived at his parents' house around seven o'clock at night with Les in tow. He found Jack, Crutchie, Katherine, Specs, Race, Romeo, and Finch there alongside his parents. After throwing a look at Crutchie, who looked perfectly fine, he sat down. Race sat next to the kerosene lamp. Jack sat next to his father and Crutchie. His mother and Katherine were deep in conversation. The rest of the Newsies sat in what seemed to be random placement. They sat awkwardly.

As always, the food was delicious. Jack shoveled the food into his mouth. Race excused himself to use the toilet. The Newsies were finished eating long before Davey and his family. The had pleasant conversation with light laughter. After a while, Les realized that Race hadn't returned from the bathroom.

"Hey, where's Race?" All the Newsies looked at Jack, who nodded. The plan was going into action.

"He's probably just having some stomach troubles. I'll go check on him," Specs said. As soon as he left, all chaos broke out.

Crutchie faked a leg cramp, which was way worse for him than a normal human being, Romeo started being sweet on Katherine while Jack shouted in his face, and Finch stole food from Race's plate. With all the chao, Davey and Les didn't notice Specs and Race sneak back in and blow out the one source of light- the lamp. The scuffle stopped immediately. Jack put a faux warble into his voice.

"What was that?" They were left in complete darkness. Meanwhile, a squirrel heard the noises inside and stopped in curiosity. When the lights suddenly went out, the squirrel started and scampered away.

Crutchie had the deepest voice of the group, other than Davey's father, but he wouldn't do what Crutchie was going to do. He was all in for pranking the boys, but he didn't want to be the one to possibly cause them post traumatic stress disorder. His sons were complete wimps.

"I have come… to reclaim what I have lost," Crutchie said in an especially deep and creepy voice. It even gave Romeo the shivers. Crutchie was hidden behind the curtains, and you could just barely see anything. The sliver of moonlight coming through the crack between the curtains gave just enough light to see Davey and Les's terrified expressions. The rest of the Newsies and their parents faced the walls and hung their heads to make it seem they were alone and they had been frozen in time.

"Who… who are you?" Les asked in an attempt to stay calm. Crutchie grinned from behind the curtain. The brothers were totally buying it.

"I am nobody of importance. I have come to reclaim what I have lost," he repeated eerily.

"What did you lose?" Davey asked with a white face and eyes the size of golf balls. Out of sight of the duo, the Newsies were near tears because they had been holding back their laugher for so long.

"My sanity," the deep voice grumbled. Davey and Les trembled in their shoes. That was Race's cue to turn around with wide, unblinking eyes.

"He will not leave until he has attained what he needs." Jack was amazed at how well Race managed to turn his voice into one that could have been possessed. The victims of their prank were near tears. Jack himself turned around.

"We have come to destroy mankind!" He said.

"No, idiot. We are here to receive these two innocent being's sanity!" Davey gripped Les' hand and began to back away from the window. The final part of their prank was to lighten to the brothers' worries because Jack wasn't that mean. Romeo turned around.

"Yes," he agreed with Crutchie, "We have come to wish you a happy Halloween!" He yelled running forward and tackling the two brothers, laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face. The rest of the Newsies joined the group hug while clutching their sides. Davey's mom lit the lamp again and everyone ended up on the floor on top of Davey and Les, who might have peed their pants a little bit.

"I hate you!" Davey yelled repeatedly, but everyone knew it was all bark and no bite. All in all, it was a perfect ending to a not so perfect evening (in Davey and Les' case).


End file.
